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What You Want, Not What You Need, Part Two
"What You Want, Not What You Need, Part Two" is the twenty-second issue of the Angel & Faith comic book series. Synopsis Given the interruption of the ritual, Faith began to panic over what they had just done to resurrect Giles. Alasdair recovered from his earlier lack of breath and ordered everyone to focus on Giles only to help increase the chances of maintaining control over it. Lavinia and Sophronia think of ten-year old Giles and express their sincere desires to fix their nephew's life when it was ruined by his destiny as a watcher. Faith thought of her travels with him and asserted her paternal love for him while Angel recalled his murder of him and how much he wanted to set it right. Luckily, Giles was shown to be resurrected successfully .... almost. Giles was brought back intact, but in the form of a young boy. Angel and the others react with immense confusion and disbelief. However, it soon became clear that this version of Giles still held all of his memories and demeanor of adult Giles. Aware of Angel's obsession in bringing him back, he proceeded to furiously criticize him of it under these circumstances and how he had to endure both the feelings of Angelus and Angel when his soul was trapped in their body. This was soon put aside, as Giles was horrified to realize he was trapped in the body of himself at twelve. It was then made clear that the reason for this was Lavinia and Sophronia had envisioned him as a little boy, not his adult self. Giles had been known this and resisted, managing to instead be twelve. He expressed his anger and frustration with them, declaring that they were idiots and had ruined his life again. Despite this unexpected event, Angel was satisfied and elated since they had still managed to resurrect him in a world without magic, confident that they would find a way to fix this as well. Still struggling with the side effects of his resurrection, an exasperated and stressed Giles mentioned Whistler and how they should all be focusing on how to stop him instead. Whistler, Pearl, and Nash were close to releasing a plague across the world. Giles acknowledged this, scolding Angel for offering to go by himself to stop them as they were far too strong. Angel suddenly perked up this. He wanted to notify Buffy that Giles wasn't dead, as he knew she would be delighted at having her former watcher back. Before he could attempt to call her, Giles promptly shunned the idea. He implored the vampire to not inform Buffy of this since she couldn't travel from San Francisco to London in time to fight against Whistler, but Giles also saw it too soon for her to know he was alive. Angel was unhappy, but nonetheless respected his wishes. Later, Giles was alone with Faith on a rooftop. Giles admitted to her that before he was sure of his place in the world, but now that he was brought back nothing made sense to him anymore. Faith claimed she could relate to that, trying to make him feel better. However, Giles disagreed with it. He explained that he had seen all she had done with Angel to bring him back while he was inside Angel's body, so he was certain that Faith may have wanted the old Giles back but it was not what she needed. In fact, Giles saw that not her or anyone else truly needed him anymore, showing his disconnection and lack of purpose. In order to locate the exact position of Whistler sooner, Angel managed to retrieve a enchanted lodestone. Giles then proceeded to use on a map, as it was drawn to concentrations of energy. Giles noted a rise in energy where the Deeper Well was, but deduced it was too risky since they wouldn't want to wake up an Old One. Pinpointing the location, they prepared to face off against Pearl and Nash. Giles addressed Angel and admitted he was grateful that he had freed his soul from Eyghon, but that if he was to die again in this, he would be able to accept it in peace. Angel acknowledged this along with the rest, all of them accepting that most likely that not all of them would make it out alive in this battle. Finding Whistler, they prepared to have the final showdown. Continuity The story was set after "Spike and Faith", ''but before "TBA". *Several flashbacks of events took place in this issue: Faith and Giles together some point between "No Future For You and "Retreat", Lavinia and Sophie's flashback of a ten year old Giles explicitly shown in "Women of a Certain Age", and Angel's murder of Giles in "Last Gleaming, Part Four". '' *Giles referenced his time inhabiting Angel's body when he criticized him of resurrecting him and later in his talk with Faith over how he had been able to feel the feelings he had felt. This was most strongly seen in "Death and Consequences, Part Four" ''and ''"Spike and Faith". '' * Giles tried to resort to his usual drinking of scotch when depressed, only for Alasdair to take it away from him and give him a soda since he was "underage". Ironically, this echoed a similar instance with Anya when she tried to get beer at a bar in "Doppelgangland". *Giles stated to Faith that he no one needed him to guide them anymore. Giles had frequently been feeling unnecessary and useless to others in the past, especially his period of unemployment in Season Four of Buffy and later when he realized he was holding Buffy back, prompting him to leave her in "Tabula Rasa". This was revealed to be an insecurity of his in "The Yoko Factor". *When attempting to locate the spot where Whistler was with the enchanted lodestone, Giles and Lavinia detect a rise in energy in the Deeper Well in Cotswold. Unbeknownst to them, this detection of energy is because of Buffy and her fight with the mystical council in ''"The Core, Part Two" that was happening at the same time. *Giles shows gratitude to Angel for bringing him back and freeing his soul from Eyghon's hold during "Death and Consequences". *The moment of Angel and the others all acknowledging the strong possibility that they may die against Whistler mirrored that of "Power Play". Appearances Individuals *Angel *Faith Lehane *Rupert Giles *Alasdair Coames *Lavinia Fairweather *Sophronia Fairweather *Nadira *Whistler *Pearl *Nash *Buffy Summers (only mentioned) *Willow Rosenberg (only mentioned) Species *Vampire *Slayer *Human *Half-Demon *Old One (only mentioned) *Demon (only mentioned) Locations *London, England, U.K. *Deeper Well, Cotswolds, U.K. (only mentioned) Weapons and Objects *Enchanted Lodestone Behind the Scenes *This issue is Giles-centric. *Giles' speech of being what she wanted, not what she needed was a very obvious shoutout to the title of the story arc. Collections *''What You Want, Not What You Need'' Gallery Cover Artwork AF22A.jpg AF22B.jpg Quotes nl:What You Want, Not What You Need, Deel Twee Category:Angel comics Category:Season Nine